Amazon.com, said to be world's largest online retailer, has seemingly removed skateboards carrying images of Hindu deity Lord Ganesha from its website after Hindus protested.

Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, who spearheaded the
protest, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, thanked Amazon.com for
understanding and feeling the concerns of Hindu community, which
thought images of Lord Ganesha on skateboards were highly
inappropriate.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, however,
said that an official apology from Amazon.com and its President
Jeffrey P. Bezos to the upset Hindu community was still due as this
was not the first time for the company to offer such products which
were deemed offensive by Hindu devotees.

In
Focus

Moreover; bedcovers, bed sheets, bedspreads, picnic beach sheets,
cigarette cases, waist pants; carrying the images of Hindu deities
Ganesha, Vishnu, Shiva, Lakshmi and Kali were still being sold at
Amazon.com; which we urge the company to show some maturity and
immediately withdraw, Rajan Zed stated.

Zed suggested Amazon.com and other corporations to send their
senior executives for training in religious and cultural sensitivity
so that they had an understanding of the feelings of customers and
communities when introducing new products or launching advertising
campaigns.

Inappropriate usage of Hindu deities or concepts for commercial or
other agenda was not okay as it hurt the faithful, Zed said.

Zed further said that it was shocking to visualize that a company
like Amazon.com, for its mercantile greed, would apparently sell
anything without caring for the feelings of a considerable segment of
world's population.

Amazon.com, Inc., a Fortune 500 company founded in 1994, and
headquartered in Seattle (USA), claims to offer earth's biggest
selection.